Lanikai Misadventures

Here is a little story about my misadventures yesterday, resulting in some very sore feet (and one broken). I had never flown at Lanikai before, so I called Alex to get a site intro. He told me where the LZ was, and how to get to the trail, and to go to the LZ and wait for a call from either Dave or Thom for a detailed introduction, and possibly a flying buddy. The wind on the LZ was coming straight from the two islands (the Mokes) at about 8 mph.

'Hard-headed me' decided to just head to the trail after checking out the LZ. (mistake #1: not being patient or following directions.) While walking up the road to the trail, I spotted what seemed to be the "only" place to launch, because everywhere else that I could see looked way too steep. So, when I got up there, the wind felt quite a bit stronger than on the beach, but it didn't occur to me that it could be wrapping around the point to the right. (Mistake #2: not looking at a satellite view [google maps or something] to see the entire picture, so that I could make accurate predictions of what the wind is doing).

I launched way below (see x above) the first pillbox, into 12-15 mph wind, which felt like it was coming straight from the Mokes. I quickly discovered that my lift band was extremely small, and once I got away from the hill, I quickly sunk out and was unable to get back to launch. Then I started looking for places to land... I had no good options. When I sunk into the wind shadow, and possibly some rotor, my ground speed really picked up, and my mind was racing to keep up. I knew that if I landed on a roof I would probably hit with enough force to do some damage... no one has much of a yard up there... I was already below the power-lines; I just picked a driveway and swung into it (see photo for flight path). That final turn really caused me to pick up speed, plus now I was going downwind.

I impacted a pile of rocks, going approximately 25-30 mph (see photo). I kind of "spaced" the last second, and instead of taking a wrap and flaring as hard as I could, I just pumped my brakes pretty aggressively, picked out a spot on the pile and braced for impact... from the turn to impact was probably less than half a second. ...not the best LZ!!!

Immediately after the crash, I didn't feel much pain, probably due the amount of adrenaline in my system, and because my tissues hadn't started swelling yet. The neighbors and the homeowner were asking if I was okay, and I assured them that I was... I didn't even limp while anyone was watching. I quickly pulled my wing out of an areca palm and folded it up and started down the hill...

At the end of the driveway, I could really tell that something was quite possibly broken. I asked a neighbor across the street for a ride to my truck, then drove to the Emergency Room. X-rays showed that I have two fractured Metatarsals in the middle of my right foot. Both feet feel broken. I am doing everything I can think of to expedite the healing process, including eating lots of plant based proteins and "super-foods", taking anti-inflammatory vitamins, and essential mineral supplements, and no pain medicine... Actually I am starting to re-think the "no pain medicine" part. I am also using a poultice of Russian Comfrey which has been used for centuries to heal broken bones. As I have never had a broken bone before, this should be a good time for testing the effectiveness of Comfrey.

Sometimes I learn lessons the hard way, unfortunately. I wish that I would have done what I have seen plenty of you guys do on launch... wait for someone else to show up and show me the way. It is no fun being the "wind-dummy" when it ends badly.

While at the ER, I learned that if I would have only waited another 30 minutes, Bonnie and Claude would have shown up to give me a proper site introduction. I am just so thankful that I didn't get hurt any worse than I did... It could have been a lot worse. I'll see you guys in the air soon!

-Lake-